JP\/5\/Madura<\/p>\n
Human trafficking on the rise in East Java<\/p>\n
Indra Harsaputra
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Madura<\/p>\n
Eyes glistening with tears, Lina (not her real name) slowly,
\npainfully recalled for her visitor the horrors she had suffered
\nin Batam, where the 13-year-old Madura native had been offered a
\njob as a shopkeeper but instead was forced to work as a
\nprostitute.<\/p>\n
\"I have no future. My friends and family won't have anything
\nto do with me,\" said Lina, an elementary school dropout, in
\nPamekasan, Madura, East Java.<\/p>\n
She said she arrived in Batam ready to earn money working as a
\nshopkeeper, but was instead trapped in a nightmare world of
\nforced sex. Lina said Nasiah, a manpower broker, threatened to
\nkill her if she refused to work as a prostitute.<\/p>\n
\"I was told to provide good services for the guests of Mr.
\nMujiat, a pimp,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Her mother left home when Lina was two, going to Malaysia to
\nfind work. Her mother eventually remarried in Malaysia and
\nstopped sending money home to her family in Madura, forcing Lina
\nto drop out of school and look for ways to help support her
\nfamily. That is what led the girl to travel to Batam.<\/p>\n
\"I was always afraid when I worked in the club in Batam.
\nNasiah would yell at me for the smallest mistakes,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Lina was not alone in Batam. She was with three other girls.
\nLina and one of the girls worked in one nightclub, while the
\nother two worked in a separate club. After several weeks, Lina
\nand another girl were able to escape and return home. The fate of
\nthe other two girls is unknown.<\/p>\n
A senior officer with the East Java Police, Comr. Krisno
\nSiregar, said his unit was investigating the case.<\/p>\n
\"There has been a report that the manpower broker who brought
\nLina to Batam is part of an organized crime,\" Krisno said
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
There has been an increase in the number of reported cases of
\nhuman trafficking in East Java. In 2003 and 2004 only two human
\ntrafficking cases were reported, while so far this year there
\nhave been six reported cases. Most of the cases follow a similar
\npattern. The traffickers entice the victims with offers of jobs
\nin another city, but when they arrive they are forced to work as
\nprostitutes.<\/p>\n
Cicik Sri Rejeki, a member of the Child Protection Institute,
\nsaid poverty was the driving force behind the rising number of
\nhuman trafficking cases in the province.<\/p>\n
According to data from the International Labor Organization
\nreleased last year, of an estimated 28,558 sex workers in East
\nJava, 8,162 are children, most between the ages of 13 and 18. The
\nmajority of these children, some 52.8 percent, say they are
\nforced to work as prostitutes because of poverty.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5madura-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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